RPG Aqualaria: A Universe of our own PG-VL

[GuyYouMetOnline]

"I told you not to charge the Orchist Beam," Sako told Drake. Drake ignored him, focused 100% on the Griffin. Kay was fighting the third mech, so Sako targeted the damaged Terrapin. [i]Why the hell's he using a Terrapin in this kind of battle?[/i] Sako wondered.

As Sako landed in front of the Terrapin, he was able to see how much damage the mech had taken. Which was why he wasn't surprised when the pilot curled it into a ball. That was his only hope for survival. What the pilot didn't know was that the RLD-H could still get through the armor to do some serious damage. What Sako didn't know was that the pilot didn't intend to stop fighting.

sako barely reacted in time when the Terrapin cuddenly shot toward him. Sako jumped over the Terrapin. The Hunter's leg was cliped, but no serious damage was done. Sako spun in midair so that he was facing the Terrapin as he landed. He quickly fired at the Terrapin with his RLD-H. Only one of the two rockets hit, but both rockets from Sako's second shot were on target.

Sako commed the Terrapin's pilot. "I'd think about surrendering now if I were you," he said.

"I don't think so," the Terrapin's pilot replied. "I'm not out of this yet."

Sako laughed. "You're missing a leg. That ramming trick of yours-which was quite clever, by the way-won't work now, because I know about it now, and if you uncurl to use any other weapons, you're an easy target, and much more vulnerable. I'm sure you can figure out that the odds are in my favor."

"I don't care about the odds."

"Nor do I, but that doesn't change the fact that they favor me. With your mech in its present condition, I don't see any way you can possibly take me. I offered you a chance to surrender. You chould have taken it."

[Rhym]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Rhym was just thinking that the worst might be over when the Terrapin detected the Hunter targeting him.

[I]Won't these people just let me sit here in peace? I suppose not.[/I]

Just as the Hunter landed, he shot forwards, but, due to the Hunter's agility, only managed to clip its leg, and not that seriously. The Hunter's pilot was very skilled to be able to not only dodge a completly unexpected close range attack but to then land and immediately let loose with an RLD-H. Only one shot hit, but it was enough.

[I]Dammit! What can I do?[/I] The Hunter's pilot contacted him.
"I'd think about surrendering now if I were you," he said.
[I]What can I do but stall?[/I] "I don't think so. I'm not out of this yet."
The pilot laughed. "You're missing a leg. That ramming trick of yours-which was quite clever, by the way-won't work now, because I know about it now, and if you uncurl to use any other weapons, you're an easy target, and much more vulnerable. I'm sure you can figure out that the odds are in my favor."
[I]I hope he can't tell that I'm bluffing completely...[/I] "I don't care about the odds."
"Nor do I, but that doesn't change the fact that they favor me. With your mech in its present condition, I don't see any way you can possibly take me. I offered you a chance to surrender. You should have taken it."
Rhym quickly contacted the Griffyn. "Gray! Kitty! Are you guys okay?"
A weak reply came from the mess at the bottom of the cliff. It was Gray. "A bit shaken. It's nothing."
"Stop downplaying this! Gray, do you have a ship?"
"So what if we do? We can win."
[I]What is he thinking? How can he be so belligerent at a time like this?[/I]
Kitty came on the line. "Gray, don't do this. Just forget about it. It's nothing. Right now, we [I]need[/I] the ship!"
Gray sighed. "Fine, I'll call it down."
"Thank you, Gray. As soon as you can, get yours and Zisagawa's mechs onboard. I'll be right after you."

Rhym geared up the treads, and in doing so was met by a transmission from the Hunter.
"What are you doing? Are you suicidal? I offered you a chance to surrender, and you pull this tired trick? I'll take pleasure in deleting you." The Hunter leveled the RLD-H at Rhym's mech. Just as he fired, Rhym shot off, but not towards the Hunter. Instead, he hit a stray piece of building at an angle that launched him into the air.

The Falcron turned, but too late. Just before the impact, an all-channel transmission came from the Rhino.

"DRAKE!"

The Terrapin exploded into the Falcron, crushing it like a paper cup. A transmission came in from the crippled Falcron.

"YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU ALL! KAY! KAAAYYYY!!!"

Rhym replied with a touch of smugness. "Sorry, buddy. Better hope the mods can get you a new mech!"
He then opened transmissions with Zisagawa, Gray, and Kitten. "All of you, now's our chance to get onboard! Gray, order your crew to fire upon the Hunter and the Rhino so we can get on safely! Let's GO!"

[ALIGN=Center]--------[/ALIGN]

On Gray's ship, now flying safely away from the moderators' minions, the mood was slightly congradulatory.

"Thanks so much, Rhym," said Zisagawa. "I owe you my account!"
"Yea, great job out there," said Kitty. "That some some real quick thinking."

They all grew silent as Gray approached. He sized Rhym up.
"Sorry about the mech."
"Hey, it's not problem," said Rhym. "It needed a remodeling, anyways."

"...Thanks."

Gray quickly walked away, slightly flustered, and busied himself in the maintenance of the ship.

Kitty looked at Rhym with great respect.
"What is it?" He asked.
"If you've known Gray for as long as I have," she replied, "That's high praise."

OOC: Whew! Is that acceptable?[/FONT]

[Kitty]

[COLOR=Blue][SIZE=1]Kitten thanked Rhym again, then walked towards Gray. He shifted off a bit each time she approached. Up until he turned a corner, she was quiet. But once they were out of sight, she rushed over and grabbed his arm. "Look!"

He didn't look at her, but he stopped fiddling. His hands at his sides, he muttered, "What?"

"You were stupid today. You know that, right?" Gray was, again, silent. "Answer me!" she insisted. But still no reply. "Fine. [i]I'll[/i] talk then. You need to stop protecting me. I'm a big girl. I'll be fine."

At this point, he turned and looked her in the eye. She hesitated. The look in his eyes was a mix of both disappointment and anger at himself.

"Um.. I'm glad you were nice to Rhym, though. And.. eh.. Thanks." "For what. I fucked up, remember!?" he finally spoke up. "Yes, you did. But still." She turned to leave, not knowing what to say to end the awkwardness.

But as Kitten neared the end of the hallway, Gray grabbed her arm.

"You didn't answer my question."

"And?"

"I want an answer."

"Fine," she smiled, walking back towards him. "Thanks for not killing me today. How's that?" She chuckled as she went back to returning to the others. "That's not a very good answer!" Gray called after her. She stuck her tongue out at him as she went.

Gray, not really wanting to fiddle with the ship anymore at the moment, slid down against the wall. He blew the hair out of his face, staring blankly at his feet that lay sprawled out on the ground in front of him.

"Today's been an odd day.."

[CENTER]--[/CENTER]

Kitten returned to the others and began talking about where they should go next. "Afterall, that Drake guy'll be after us. He's gone insane, I swear," she sighed. "He's a bit excited, you could say," Rhym suggested, chuckling a bit. "And the other two. They weren't very merciful either."

"I know, I know. But Drake and the moderators are my main concern."

"We'll be able to avoid them," Gray interuppted. "Oh! Gray," Kitten smiled. "Hey," Rhym nodded. Gray grunted back, then continued with a plan for avoiding the mods.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Drake, kay, and Sako were at Kasharo's shop and their mechs were all undergoing repairs. Sako's required the least, due to the fact that he chose his actions carefully and wasn't actually participating in most of battle. Drake's Falcron needed the most repair work. Fortunatly for Drake, Kpart of the deal was that all damage would be repaired.

While Drake and Kay sat around, Sako was busy talking with Kasharo. Eventually, their conversation ended, and Sako walked over to Drake and Kay. "I've got good news," he told them. "We're getting paid after all."

'What?!" Kay exclaimed.

"How'd you manage that?" Drake asked incredulously. "Even that beat-to-hell Terrapin got away."

'True," Sako agreed, "but to escape, they brought their ship into my sensor envelope. And Hunters have the best sensors available. I was able to get a read on their emmission signature, which can be used to trak them. I gave the data to Kasharo, and he agreed to pay us. We're not getting the full four hundred thousand, but we're not getting the two-twenty for destruction, either. He's paying us the average of the two. We're getting a total of three hundred sixty thousand, which means one-twenty for each of us. We're lucky Kasharo's CG, because a human player probably wouldn't have given us anything. But Kasharo, as a CG character, doesn't care about the cash as much, because he doesn't need it. Besides, he knows that the theifs can't hide forever. He knows the emmission signature of their ship, so he'll find them eventually-unless they change ships, of course, but that's not our concern.

"By the way, I had Kasharo profile mech garages, and we found a likely candidate. I think the fourth member of their party is named Rhym. What'd you say the other names were?"

"Kitty, Gray, and Zisagawa," Drake replied.

"Good. I got them right. Kasharo's filed a wanted for them. IF you two want to chase them, go ahead. I'm going to chill here for a while."

[Albel the Wicked]

OOC: Finally the fight is over.

IC: Drake looked at his damaged Falcron which almost was destroyed completly. Drake was seriously pissed. The Falcron was his baby, his pride and joy. It was the best mech around and it was damaged severly. He was going to kill Rhym. His character was going to be deleated next time he saw him. Rhym was the one that did the finishing blow, so it will be Rhym that pays for it.
He looked at Sako who was just chilling. Drake had connections to delete their characters, but he didn't want to. He was an ex-mod, which is one reason he has so much good stuff. That is why he was in Aqualaria from the beginning. He hates looking back on the reason that he resigned. Good thing is, that he recieved a lot of gifts and then he set off to resume being a tresure hunter.
Drake decided to check his level. Since it was a pretty intense fight, he was close to a level up. He was going to get off this backwater planet sometime soon though, so he could finish what he started and get that level up. He was wondering if Sako would like to join his crew. He knew how to persuade him. He got up and spoke out,"Sako? Would you like to join my crew?"
"Hmmm?"
"My crew. You know the people who pilot my ship."
"I know what a crew is. I don't know if I feel like chasing those guys."
"This isn't about chasing rouges, criminals, or monsters. My crew pretty much finds items and either sells them or uses them. That's how I obtained my Orchist Beam and all my other guns and gadgets." Drake said, as he look as his multi-purpose braclet.
"Well, I'll have to think about it."
"Talk to me when you do. Just remember, members of my crew get to use all the stuff available, with a few exceptions, of course. So that would mean you could use one of my mechs if you wanted, use some of my guns, whatever you want."
"I'll message you when I come up with an answer"
"OK." Drake patched an intercom. "Bring down a dropship. Kay and I are ready to go back to Athirion."
"*Crackle* yes sir"
Soon, there was a ship coming down which picked up the repaired Falcron in the hangar, along with Drake and Kay. It started to fly to a ship which was although very high in the sky, was big enough to eclipse the sun. Drake was on the Athirion.
"ALRIGHT CREW! Set course to cruise until we pick up artifacts"

OOC: Well, Takuya?

[GuyYouMetOnline]

[i]Drake obviously doesn't know shit about me,[/i] Sako thought. [i]If he did, he wouldn't have bothered offering. No, I don't want to join his crew. He doesn't play my type of game. Besides, I don't take orders.[/i]

Sako went over to one of Kasharo's terminals and composed a message.


[i]The answer's no, Drake. You just don't play my type of game. I'm a fighter, not a scavenger. What you do is not something I want to do.
Sako[/i]


Sako turned away from the terminal to see a man talking to Kasharo. Sako knew that man.

[i]What the hell's Damian doing here?[/i] Sako wondered. [i]He must be dumber than I thought, showing his face in another mech shop after the number of times he's been caught. Some thiefs just don't know anything.[/i]

Damian walked out to the garage area, and kasharo was about to follow when Sako held him up. "I know that man," Sako told Kasharo. 'his name's Damian, and he's a thief. Strictly in-game, though. Nothing against the rules. Just an in-game thief, but one who doesn't give up. I've caught him twice before, and I'm not the only one who has. He's probably here to steal something."

"He already has a mech," Kasharo replied. "An [i]Orbit[/i]-class. it's a new class;you're probably not familiar with it. the Orbits are among the top AAA mechs."

"Then he's already stolen it, and neds to fuel up," Sako said. "And you're going to do just that, without doing anything to indicate that you're onto im. While you do so, I'm going to scan the mission lists to find out who he took it from. After that, I'll steal it from Damian and return it to its owner."

"Got it." Kasharo followed Damian, and Sako returned to the terminal. A stolen mech of a new AAA class would probably be reported almost immediatly. As soon as Sako learned who it was stolen from, he'd steal it from Damian and return it.

[Rhym]

[FONT=Times New Roman]"In order to evade the mods, we must leave the planet," explained Gray.

"Question," asked Rhym. "Can't they just close all out-bound trafic from the planet?"

"Not likely," Gray explained. "This game goes beyond massive. You think they'd close all traffic to a planet just because of little ol' us?"

"He has a point, Rhym," interjected Kitty. "We may have committed [I]some[/I] crimes, but none of [I]that[/I] caliber."

"All right, all right," admitted Rhym. "But, consider this: that was a [I]Hunter[/I]-class mech that one of those guys had. There's a reason those things are called Hunters. Gray, your ship was in sensor range for more than enough time. He's bound to have an engine emission signature that he could easily give to the mods."

"I see," said Gray. "That's a serious issue. What do you propose?"

"Well, we'll at least need a new engine. A very fast one, preferably. If you can't get one of those, then we might have to just get a new ship."

"But, wait..." Zisagawa spoke up. Everyone turned to him. "How can we possibly hope to afford that? You know how much ship parts cost, right?"

Gray, Kitty, and Rhym merely smiled.[/FONT]

[Kitty]

[COLOR=Blue][SIZE=1]"Hey, Zisagawa? Can you go help out Kitch over there?" Kitten pointed to one of the players at the radars. "Oh. Sure. Um.. why, though?" "I need to talk to these two privately, that's all." She smiled. He seemed a bit woozey, then walked over to the male avatar, who seemed a bit confused as to why he was there.

"Come on you two," she laughed, walking out of the bridge and down the hall.

They ended up in the ship's cafeteria. Kitten took a seat at one of the empty tables. "Boy, you've got a big crew for this thing," Rhym commented at the many players sitting around chatting. The cafeteria was less of a cafeteria and more of a large lounge. After all, there weren't many players willing to be ship lunch workers. "It's a big ship," Gray and Kitten replied simultaneously. They glanced at each other, then returned to staring at Rhym. He shifted uneasily in his seat.

"Well.. Where are we going to get the parts?" he asked. "We'll steal 'em," the two across from him said, once again, in unison. "Yeah.. I know that. But from where? Katenea isn't an option right now." "Neither is Loiyia or Nikka." "Why not those two planets?" Rhym asked her. "Yeah. You weren't in trouble last time I played with you," Gray added.

"Well.. You haven't been playing for a [i]long[/i] time," she muttered, scratching her head and waving at someone she recognized. "What did you do?" This time, Rhym and Gray asked at the same time. They glanced at each other. "I um.. Nevermind. Lets just focus on the nearby planets. Where can we go for a faster engine? And some new mechs. You've only got two on this ship, plus a few Ollies," Kitten replied nervously, trying to get away from the subject.

"Ollies? You have [i]Ollies[/i]? Why do you have such weak mechs, Gray?" Rhym asked in awe. "Well, they weren't for use alone. I have about four. The plan was, when we got 'em," he glanced at Kitten, "we'd let some of the best mech pilots in our crew to pilot them while we used the other two mechs. The Ollies would be sort of a..."

"Distraction?" Rhym and Kitten finished for him together. They glanced at each other. "Okay, lets stop doing that. It's--" "Annoying." "Knock it off!" "Fine, fine," Rhym and Gray began laughing, while Kitten sat there beginning to grow angry.

"Fuck you two. I'm going to check the maps, assholes," Kitten huffed, standing up quickly and storming out. "Damn it," Gray sighed, leaning his head on his hand. "What was that?" Rhym asked, oblivious to why she had gotten angry so fast. "Maybe because I'm having a better time than she is," Gray muttered, getting up and slouching off somewhere else. "Oh.. Hey wait!" Rhym called, rushing after him.

When he caught up, he slowed to Gray's pace and walked beside him in silence for a few moments.

"I don't know my way around the ship yet.."

"You better learn fast."[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Albel the Wicked]

OOC: WHOA THERE KITTY! Watch the language. This is a PG-13 RPG and I don't want it closed.

IC: Drake went up in Athirion. As he went to the captain's chair, he saw that he had a new message from user Sako. He opened it and saw that message in reply to his offer. The message read as so.

[I]The answer's no, Drake. You just don't play my type of game. I'm a fighter, not a scavenger. What you do, is not something I want to do.
Sako[/I]

Drake decided to reply. He typed in a new message and it read.

"That is indeed a shame. I thought that you would want to be join just for a little bit, so that you could find an Orchist Beam maybe. You seemed quite facinated that I had one. Well, if that is your choice, then I'll accept it. But, if you ever need a friend's help, just message me."

Drake then started to think. If those people got away, they were sure to have a bounty on their characters. Drake decided to check the missions list. As he did, he saw that the inventions list was updated. "*Sigh* Let's see what some n00b decided to put up seeing if anyone would buy it" Drake checked the list and saw that it wasn't posted by some n00b. It was posted by an experienced player, a player that he knew. "Ah! So he decided to come back. He looked to see that his friend Albel had signed on. (OOC: Humor me) Albel was an experienced player. Even more experienced then Drake. He was around a level 14 last he checked. Drake decided to get in contact with him. He composed a message and sent it. The message said," ALBEL! I thought you got deleated. What's going on man? Well, tell me later. I have a proposition. If you haven't noticed, four players have gotten a bounty on their heads. Pick a place and I shall meet you there for parle."
Drake checked the invention to see that it was armor. In fact, it was rated as a three star armor. That was good armor. Drake wanted to order it, but he saw that it cost around 1,000,000 zen. Since Drake didn't want to be even MORE in debt, he decided that he would just leave it until he could buy it. But this made Drake want to start inventing something. Not things that he wanted other players to have, like his blasters. He'd make something that was usefull, but wasn't going to be used against him. Drake just then got an idea, he went to the production lines and had the computer scan his eyeshield, then produce the thing from it's blueprints. When about twenty were made, he filed a patent for it. In a matter of moments, he would have his eyeshield able to be sold in the stores of Aqualaria. This would make him some money.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

OOC: Albel, you rated this RPG PG for violence and [i]language[/i]. A litle swearing is not going to upset the mods.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Skao read Drake's message when it arrived, decided that it didn't need a reply, and went back to scanning the stolen mech reports. It wasn't long before he found what he was looking for. The [i]Orbit[/i]-class mech had been stolen from Tarlomno's mech garage, which happened to be part of a mech production facility, one that frequently made new mech designs. [i]Makes sense,[/i] Sako thought. [i]Tarlmono's place has the newest mechs. It's a good place to find a new class. And it's on this planet, so I can get there pretty quickly.[/i]


Sako's plan worked perfectly. He was gone in the Orbit before Damian even knew he'd been had. Before long, he was at Tarlomno's garage. Tarlomno took the mech into storage then returned and thanked Sako.

"No problem," Sako said. "Now, I couldn't help but notice the unusual style of that mech. It doesn't have thrusters, but it can still be in the air, and it's good in the air, too. How does that work?"

"Counter-gravitational technology," Tarlomno explained. "Expensive, but it lets a mech go fast when in the air. Excellent arial maneuverability, too."

"Can you install the counter-grav device in a custom mech?" Sako asked.

"Of course. Do you have a design in mind?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. Do you have an Orbit mech under construction?"

Tarlomno was puzzled, but he answered. "Yes, we do. You saw it in the garage area. It was the skeleton. If you're thinking of using it for something, that's fine as long as you pay a reasonable price."

"Good. Now, here's my proposal. You provide the counter-grav device as payment for my return of the Orbit, and I pay for the rest. Now, here's what I want for this mech..."


Using an Orbit skeleton for Sako's custom mech cut both cost and production time. The mech would be ready in one game day, as most of the work was simple equipment installation. In the meantime, Sako scanned for missions, only to be interrupted when someone stepped up beside him. "I have an assignment that I think you're quite suitable for," the man said.

Sako knew that voice. He turned to face the man. "Hello, Garnok. It's been a while. What's a mod like you doing here?"

"We're recruiting," Garnok explained. "See, we're tracking a big-time criminal ring, and they're hackers, too. We've got the location of their in-game hideout, so we're getting ready to go in. Problem is, there's not enough of us. You've helped us in similar situations, so when I saw you here, I decided to ask you."

Sako knew exactly what the mods' problem was. They couldn't delete accounts without knowing the identities of the players as well as the characters. If they got their hands on the characters, they could identify the players, but capturing the characters was frequently difficult. A lot of the time, there were too many for even the mods to take on, and problems with true AI bots eliminated that option. Therefore, mods frequently turned to players for aid. Sako had given them such aid on two previous occasions.

"I assume you need more players than just me, right?" Sako asked.

"That's correct," Garnok confirmed. "Do you know of any who could help?"

"I do," Sako replied. "the total number comes to seven, but four of them might be interesting to get the aid of. One of the other three's an ex-mod. You told me about Drake, remember?"

"Drake would be perfect for this. I assume the other two are friends of yours."

"One is. The other is Drake's companion."

"What about the 'interesting' four?"

"We'll get to them in a bit," Sako said.


Karalos was first. Sako messaged her, and she quickly came via insantanious transport, free because she was going to be doing a job with the mods.

Next were Drake and Kay. Sako messaged them.

[i]Drake, this is Sako. I'm taking you up on your offer of aid. The mods need help with a crimilan/hacker ring. You know the drill. All expenses will be paid for by the mods, so use instantanious transport if you decide to accept. The coordinates are attached to this message.[/i]
[i]Sako[/i]

With that message sent, Sako told Garnok about the other four.


"Let me get this straight," Garnok said when Sako was done. "The four are Gray, Kitty, Rhym, and Zisagawa. You, Drake, and Drake's companion fought against them in an attempt to take back a stolen Griffin. And now you want their help?"

Sako nodded. "These people are good, Garnok. One of them held his own in a goddamn Terrapin. It was heavily modified, sure, but it was still inferior to everything else there, and the pilot held his own. He even dealt the finishing blow to Drake's Falcron. Trust me, these people will be excellent allies. The trick is getting them to agree to come in the first place. What are their records?"

"Mostly in-game," Garnok told Sako. "There was a litle system theft, but nothing that deserves mor than a couple weeks' suspension. We're after much, much, much bigger fish, and we mods will be more then willing to erase the records of Kitty and friends if it means bringing down this ring."

"Good. Now, allow them to keep the Griffin, and I think we've got a deal."

"Then let's give it a try," Garnok said.

Sako composed a message.


[i]Hello, Kitty. And hello to Gray, Rhym, and Zisagawa, as well. My name is Sako. I don't know if you've heard of me, but you've certainly encountered me. I was in the Hunter. I gave out your emmissions signature, and by now you've probably got about a half-zillion bounty hunters after you. I can change that. I have a deal to make.[/i]

[i]The mods need help dealing with a large criminal/hacker ring. there are too many bad guys for the mods to handle alone, so they're bringing in players. They've done this before. This time, I mentioned you as potential allies. The mods are willing to wipe your record clean-that includes both thief profession and system theft-if you and your companions agree to help. If you're interested, comm the attached corridinates. There'll be a reception-ready com unit here. You won't be traced, and the mods will take no record of our conversation. Give me a call.[/i]
[i]Sako[/i]

-----------------------------------------------------------------

OOC: Well, Albel? Oh, Kitty and Rhym, it's your choice. Please do have Sako be informed of whatever decision is made.

[Kitty]

[COLOR=Blue][SIZE=1]OOC: What Takuya said. -__-
[center]--[/center]

Kitten scanned the maps, checking for any planet she wasn't wanted on or wasn't banned from.

"Come on, come on.. There's got to be one on here," she chanted to herself quietly.

But as she searched, she got distracted thinking about whether or not she should even be bothering. If she got caught now, she'd be banned. Or even deleted. She hadn't done anything that bad, but the mods that had been interrogating her refused to believe her when she said she did not possess any hacking items.

She had even offered for them to search her inventory, but they wouldn't listen to her. Kitten missed Z, too. He was a close friend, even if he had done a few 'bad' things in Aqualaria.

[I]"You done finding those maps yet?"[/I] a voice crackled from the in-ship radio. "Wha?!" she cried, quite startled. [i]"Oh. Sorry about that. This is Rhym. Gray and I went to the engine room, and he's wandering around. I found the com, and thought I'd check in."[/i]

"Oh. No, I haven't found anything. Most of the planets near here are overloaded with mods or their stupid errand boys. And I couldn't go to any of 'em anyway 'cause I've stolen from there too many times," Kitten sighed.

[I]"Hmm? Oh, Kitten," [/I] Rhym muttered. "What?" she asked, a bit confused. [I]"Oh, not you. Gray asked who I was talking to,"[/I] he explained. Kitten paused, then nodded and 'O.K'-ed. [I]"Well, keep looking," [/I] he sighed, turning off the com.

"Yeah..."

Kitten resumed pulling out maps, but got frustrated. She threw the maps off the desk, possibly making small rips in a few of them. "Damn it.."

A small beep went off, signaling she got a message. "What now?" she asked herself in exasperation, storming off to the in-ship terminal. When she finally got through all the in-game options, she finally opened up the message and read it.

She was startled at first. She didn't expect a message from any of those she'd fought earlier. At least it wasn't Drake. That would've been awkward. She immediately ran to Rhym and Gray and notified them first, then the three of them grabbed zisagawa and brought him along into the Captain's Office, a place where they could discuss the message in private.

"Should we do it?" Kitten asked immediatly. "Rin, of [i]course[/i] we shouldn't. The mods will let us get away until we've brought down the crime ring, then they'll take us in, too," Gray snapped. He didn't trust the mods, and he wasn't hiding it. "I think we should do it. It'll reward each of us nicely. And it'll get us out of trouble. Plus, I'll get to keep the Griffyn. Then we can upgrade it with a bunch of parts," Kitten repeated.

"Well, Kitten--" Rhym started. "Call me Rin. You all can." She could've sworn she heard Gray growl at this, but she ignored it. "Well, Rin," he smiled at her, "This is what I think we should do."

[center]--[/center]
Well Rhym? ^_~[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

"What kind of things are these people wanted for?" Karalos asked Garnok.

"It's mainly Kitty and Gray," Garnok told her. "There was some system theft, but the main thing was the belief that a friend of Kitty's sent her a hacking program when he was banned. I was one of the first to conclude that she doesn't have it, but many mods never made that conclusion. The Administrators agreed with me and instructed the mods to get off her back. They had to threaten removal of mod status to get the mods to cooperate, but the mods cooperated. It's been about a month real-time since we were actively hunting her."

"She might not have noticed your absence," Sako said. "She and her companions might suspect a trap."

"Well, that's their problem," Garnok replied. "It's not a trick."

"Talking about it won't change the situation," Karalos put in. "Let's focus on other things. Garnok, what kinds of mechs are people going to be using?"

"That's a hard question to awnser," Garnok told her. "We'll get all kinds of mechs, from Dancers to Hunters to Falcrons. I myself will be piloting one of the new Orbits. However, I can confidently say that we have plenty of heavy mechs. Several of the other mods will be using [i]Tank[/i]-class mechs. Those things are slow as hell, but are unrivaled when it comes to both taking and dealing damage. No, if we're lacking in anything, it'll be more maneuveralble mechs."

"Well, I was planning on using my [i]Eagle-[/i]class," Karalos replied, "and those things are pretty maneuverable. What about you, Sako?"

"My mech is a custom design, and it's currently under construction. It uses the new counter-grav technology that's in the [i]Orbit-[/i]class mechs. This thing's going to be a definate contender for fastest mech there is, and it'll be one of the most, if not the most, maneuverable mechs there are. It'll be something like a Dancer in the air, only more maneuverable. Of course, this comes at the price of durability, but that's helped by an unusual feture.

"Instead of armor, this mech will rely entirly on its shielding system to take damage. This has the advantage of not impacting maneuverability, and there's also the fact that the mech will be 100% functional pretty much until it's destroyed. Now, shields are usually less effective than armor, although this mech's shields will probably be stronger that I was anticipating. The counter-grav takes up less power than I thought, so I can have a stronger shield. of course, the main defense wil still be not geting hit. I'll have a profile for it ready before we go, so you can read that if you want more information. For now, let's just chill as we wait for others to arrive."

[Rhym]

[FONT=Times New Roman]"Well, Rin, here's what I think," explained Rhym. "Hacking is a [i]much[/i] more serious crime than in-game theft. Also, they mentioned it was a large hacking ring, and that they are outgunned, even [i]with[/i] the help of players. Hacking really spoils the game, too. If we get rid of these guys, we'll have a better chance of not encountering someone who ruins the game for us. And, plus, we need to level up, now don't we? This is sure to get us some nice experience."
"That's all very well," growled Gray, "But what makes you so sure the mods won't just betray us when all is said and done?"
"Well, I don't tell many people this," Rhym quietly mentioned, "But I had a run-in with the mods a while ago much like this one. I used to have a higher level character, a thief. I did my fair share of thieving, and the mods didn't like it, of course. But, in addition to a good thief, I was an expert mech pilot, so no one sent after me ever caught me. I was so good, in fact, that when a huge hacking ring was exposed, the mods grudgingly asked for my help to bust it."
Gray was still skeptical. "What hacking ring?"
"Have you ever heard of the hacking group called |-|4x0|2z-u|\|173|)?"
His eyes widened. "I thought that was just a myth! You mean there actually was a hacking ring by that name?"
"Yes. And I helped destroy it."
Gray was silent, still skeptical. Zisagawa was amazed. Rin had a question, however.
"Did you meet Shinobi_01? He was the one who turned the tide of that battle!"
Rhym chuckled quietly. "I knew him better than anyone."
"Really? How?"
"Because my old username [i]was[/i] Shinobi_01."
Both Rin and Zisagawa were struck dumb. Gray slammed his fist down on the table.
"Impossible. You expect us to beleive that [i]you[/i] are the legendary Shinobi_01?"
"Do you honestly think anyone [i]but[/i] Shinobi_01 could do what I just did back there in a [i]Terrapin?[/i]"
"Well then, why did you stop playing with that character? Did the mods delete it when you were done fighting?"
"No. The mods were as courteous as you could hope for. They let me go scot-free, with a clean slate and some nice freebies. In truth, I stopped playing because the game just got boring at such a high level."
"Rhym, that's-" began Rin, but he cut her off.
"Please, all of you, call me Gregor. It's my real name."
Rin beamed, to Gray's quiet displeasure. "Gregor, that's amazing! I feel a lot safer cracking down on a large hacker ring with Shinobi_01 at my side!"
"Thank you. I think you all know my answer."
All looked at him in admiration and expectancy.
"I say, let's do it!"[/FONT]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

It wasn't long before they heard the 'incomming message' signal. Sako went ove to the com unit and acivated it. "Hello," he said. "This is Sako."

"This is Kitty," the person on the other end said. "We've decided to accept."

"Good. I'm sending you the coordinates for my current location. The mods are paying, so use instantaneous transport. Sako out."

Sako closed the channel. About a minute later, four people appeared.After introductions were made, Sako turned to face Rhym. "That was some nice piloting back there," he said. "Of course, Drake'll be pissed about what you did to his Falcron. You might want to watch your back."

'I doubt we'll ever see each other againm" Rhym replied.

Sasko chuckled. "I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you. I told him about this job, too. I haven't getten his reply back yet, but he may very well be joining us. Which reminds me. Garnok, when I last saw Drake, he said that he would have Rhym's character deleted."

"If he tries, he's history," Garnok said. "Not even a mod can get away with deleting a character without cause, and Drake's not a mod anymore. If he even tries to get Rhym's character deleted, he'll be banned entirely."

"Well, wih that out of the way, let's get down to business," Sako said. "Kitty, Rhym, Gray, Zisagawa, figure out which mechs you're going to use, then have Tarlomno there bring them in. Then do whatever until it's time to move out."

[Lilt]

[b][font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]"What do you mean I don't have clearance?! He just gave it to me, check again!"[/color][/size][/font][/b]
[font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]The garage technician checked his computer again. After waiting a moment, his computer beeped twice and he shook his head.[/color][/size][/font]
[b][font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]"I'm sorry, ma'am. But it's like I said before, you don't have clearance."[/color][/size][/font][/b]
[font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]Gear came closing to hitting the tech and smashing his computer. Instead, she restrained herself and stormed off to Garnok's office.[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid][/color][/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]Gear, who had collected alot of metal to her left hand on the way, smashed Garnok's door down.[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid][b]"Oh. Hello, Gear. Need something?"[/b] Garnok said as he looked up from his desk. Ignoring the door that Gear had just torn down.[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid][b]"Yes, I need something. What happened to my mech clearance, Garnok?"[/b] She answered, glaring at the mod.[/color][/size][/font]
[b][font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]"I took it away."[/color][/size][/font][/b]
[b][font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]"Yes, I guessed that. But why?"[/color][/size][/font][/b]
[font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]Garnok got up from his desk and walked over to his office window. (It wasn't actually a window, but a video monitor that showed a view from a camera outside.)[/color][/size][/font]
[b][font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]"The people we had you searching for...are no longer on the mission list. For reasons I cannot say, they've had their criminal records erased."[/color][/size][/font][/b]
[font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]Garnok sighed and turned back to the mercenary.[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid][b]"So you...what are you doing?!"[/b] He asked in surprise.[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]Gear had some sort of cable from her arm plugged into Garnok's office computer. With a keypad on her arm, she was able to hear the conversation with Kitten and the others. (Garnok recorded almost all of his conversations, for security reasons,) and found out about the mission that the mods had sent them on. After she was finished searching through Garnok's computer, she turned back to face him.[/color][/size][/font]
[b][font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]"Where are they? And why didn't you tell me about this mission?"[/color][/size][/font][/b]
[font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]Garnok folded his arms.[/color][/size][/font]
[b][font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]"Well, to answer your first question, Gear...you have no mech clearance, and I'm not sure if I can trust you enough to give it to you."[/color][/size][/font][/b]
[font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]Gear typed on her keypad again. Soon, she was put into the moderators system files as having mech clearance.[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid][b]"Well, you won't have to worry about that anymore..."[/b] She smiled.[/color][/size][/font]
[b][font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]"Now will you tell me where they are?"[/color][/size][/font][/b]
[font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]Garnok pointed to the computer.[/color][/size][/font]
[b][font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]"Why don't you see for yourself?"[/color][/size][/font][/b]
[font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]Gear looked back to the computer screen, and saw a map come up on the screen. A bright dot was heading towards the office. Gear turned as she heard voices. It was the other players Garnok had hired. He hadn't hired Gear for the mission, but he didn't seem to object to her butting into it either. Now, the only obstacle to take care of was to convince Kitten and the others to let her work with them. If they did mind, then it wouldn't matter. She would still go after this hacking ring. In fact, she would go after it even if the mods didn't pay her for the job. She had her own reasons for wanting to find the hacking ring, but she wasn't about to let anyone know what they were. At least not yet...[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid][/color][/size][/font]
[b][font=Verdana][size=2][color=darkorchid]OOC: Well, I'm finally back in the rp again. If you guys don't want me to join with you on this mission, that's fine with me.[/color][/size][/font][/b]

[Albel the Wicked]

OOC: I was just worried about the f word. All the other words, I don't really give a damn.

IC: Drake was hoping to get a reply from Albel soon. When he saw that he had a message in his box, he had hoped that it were from his old friend, but his hopes were not fulfilled when he saw that it was from Sako. (Great, only ten minutes away and he already needs me) thought Drake. Drake opened it and saw that it said something about taking down a hacking ring or something. Drake sent his reply," I'm going to have to think about it. I DEFINETLY won't do it, if the mods have gotten Shaull Demandgon on this job. There is a hate that I can't control to that player. I hate him more then the hate I feel for our newly made enemies. Find that out first and I'll tell you depending on the situation." Drake sent the message. "Hey Kay. I'm going to log off, so I'm going to teleport you. Where to?"
"Take me to Earth, on the Milky Way galaxy"
"Pretty far. What for?"
"Why do you need to know, you're logging off."
"OK" So Drake teleported Kay to Earth and Drake was going to log off. Once he logged off, he switched to his other E-mail address and logged in as Shaull Demandgon. He started at a city and first headed to a message booth. Shaull put his hand up to it and used his 'hack' ability to open the message. It took a little of his MP, but it worked. He saw that there WAS a new message for him. He opened to see that it was from one of the admins. It said,"Look, we don't really like this, but we are asking you for help. There is a big hacking ring and we're getting all these players to help us and we thought that it would be easy to higher you as well. If you didn't give yourself the hack ability, then we wouldn't be doing this. We ARE willing to wipe your slate completly clean if you help, despite the fact that are the most wanted player ever. Message me back with the reply." Shaull was going to open a audio conversation with him. He started it on and sent it back to the admin Garnok. The speaker was staticy and he masked his voice with a changer.
"Hello Garnok."
"Who is this?"
"You hired me. It's your old buddy Shaull."
"SHAULL!? SHAULL DEMANDGON!?" said a female voice.
"How nice. I'm heard even in the backwater planet of Katenea"
"Enough Shaull. Just give me your reply."
"Well, I'm not going to do it if my slate is just wiped clean."
"WHAT?!"
"Let's face it, I don't have to worry about the mods even thought I AM the most wanted player in Aqualaria, so wiping the slate clean wouldn't be much of a change for me."
"What ELSE could you ask for? How much money?"
"Wellllll. I guess I COULD do it for, oh say, 100 mil."
"WHAT!? You want 100 million zen!?"
"Yes. Not one zen less, but feel free to put more in"
"How about 50 mil?"
"I'm sorry Garnok, but I'm NOT willing to negotiate a different price. If you don't pay exactly that much, then you don't get me."
"Hmmmmm."
"I'll let you think about it. But remember this. If you DON'T answer in a half an hour, then I'm going to ask for double. IF that doesn't work, then I offer my skills to the hacker ring and you'll have another threat to worry about."
"FINE!"
"What's going on Garnok?" said a voice that sounded like Sako's.
"Just negotiating with a greedy bastard!" Garnok yelled.
"Now now. Let's not be rude. You ARE the one who wanted the legendary skills of Shaull Demandgon."
"You know, you're pretty cocky." said the previous female voice.
"Look. Just give me the money when I get there."
"Agreed"
"Oh and one more thing. I know you'll put me with backwater trash players, so if the zen is fake, I'm going to kill them and help the hacker ring. Understood?"
"......yes"
"Good. I'll use the transporter to get there. So, you're going to have to get that money quick" then the conversation ended. Shaull went to a teleporter and started on his way.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

"Well, I guess Drake's not coming," Karalos remarked after Shaul terminated communications. "The message said he wouldn't come if Shaull was here. And I can see why he hates the guy."

"Well, Drake was pretty cocky too," Sako told her. "He wasn't nearly the asshole this Shaull guy is, but there are a few similarities."

"Well, he's coming, and he didn't give us much of a choice," Garnok said.

"I can take him," Rhym replied.

"Maybe. Sako's also got a very good chance in the custom mech Tarlomno's building for him. There's never been anything like it. I'd love to know how you came up with that idea, Sako."

"I took the design from another game," Sako answered. "As soon as I learned about the antigrav technology in the Orbits, I wanted to bring it into this game."

It was then that Shaull Demandgon arrived. He looked around at the assembled group. "You're who I'm working with?" he asked.

"We are," Sako said. "If you don't like it, then you can leave."

Shaull laughed. "You worthless pieces of crap wouldn't stand a chance without me."

"I beg to differ," Rhym said. Shaull looked at him, and there was a definate hatred on his face. It was brief, but Sako saw it. "And who are you?" Shaull asked.

"That's Rhym," Sako replied, watching Shaull carefully, "and he's good. He took out a Falcron in a damn Terrapin."

Again, it was brief, but it was clear to Sako that Shaull hated Rhym. "Whatever," Shaull said dismissively. "I'm going to have whoever owns this dump bring in my mech." And with that, he walked back to the garage area.

When Shaull was gone, Sako turned to Rhym. "Do you know him?"

"I've never met him before," Rhym told Sako. "Why?"

"Because he hates you. A lot. The hatred was especially evident when I mentiond how you destroyed Drake's Falcron."

"Wait a minute," Kitty said. "Are you saying that that guy is Drake?"

"I think so," Sako answered. "Which means that, among other things, that guy's not nearly as good as he says he is. I've seen drake in action, and he is certianly very skilled, but not as skilled as Shaull's saying he is."

"Well, if you're right, what are we supposed to do about it?" Karalos asked.

"Garnok, he needs to be observed. He could very well be here only to get back at Rhym. Also, I think you need to talk to Tarlomno about rigging his mech with EW equipment. You or another mod gets the button that activates the stuff and disables his mech if he does turn on us. In fact, more than one mod should have the button, just in case. I don't think we can afford to take any chances with this guy."

[Albel the Wicked]

OOC: NO NO NO! I forgot to post it, so it's kinda my fault, but no one, I repeat, NO ONE was supposed to even get the HUNCH that Shaull is Drake. Have it just be a theory, then I guess later be turned down that Shaull ISN'T Drake.

IC: Shaull walked into the garage to reflect on himself. He was trying to keep a low profile, but when he saw Rhym, he just got angry. He saw that Gray and Kitty were coming up, so it would be perfect to cover up. He went up and tripped Gray down. When he fell to the ground, Kitty tried to help him, but she was met by a hand which knocked her down.
"Hey! Why are you such and asshole!?"
"Because I-DON'T-LIKE-YOU! I don't like your face, I don't like working with you, and I sure as hell don't like anyone else in your group. As far as I'm concerned, I'm just in it for the money."
"Whatever asshole" said Gray. Shaull turned around and pulled out a gun from his trench coat. He aimed it and fired it right at Gray, which took down half of Gray's HP.
"Next time, I'll kill you" Shaull said as he walked around. He wanted to get the message that he didn't like anyone that he was working with. Zigzagawa came up and Shaull pushed him onto the dessert sand. When Sako walked up, he just glared at him. If he showed negative attention towards everyone, it'll show that he would have no connection to his other character Drake. He might have blown his cover by showing most of his negative aggression towards Rhym. He walked up to Garnok.
"I'm not a mech pilot. So, you'll have to give me a ship."
"What kind?"
"Oh, just something good. Stealth Fighter, MR1, etc."
"Alright, I'll see what I can pull up to fit your style."
"Tell me when you got something and I'll tell you if it fits my fancy."
Shaull just walked around the facility and tried to be patient while his ship was coming.

OOC: Yeah, I know. Shaull is a total ass.

[Rhym]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Gray was prone on the ground, still recovering, when Rhym walked over. "What an incorrible ass," he muttered.

Rhym spoke. "I think that rules out the chance that Shaull is Drake. You'd think if he was, it would be [i]me[/i] on the ground there instead of you."

Rin was skeptical. "He could just be covering his tracks."

"He [i]shot[/i] Gray. I'd say that's a tad bit extreme for covering tracks. He probably just got angry at me because a low level like me was compared to him."

"Besides," interjected Sako. "His reason seems to hold true. I'm sure that if I was in his position, I'd be a bit peeved to be stuck with us. Maybe not peeved enough to [i]shoot[/i] someone, but peeved nonetheless."

"I suppose," admitted Rin.

"He's still an ass, no matter what," grumbled Gray, now up.

"Back to the hacking ring topic," Sako reminded them. "What mechs will be used? Gray and Kitty, I assume you two will be using the Griffyn, but I have no knowledge of what other mechs you have and might use. What mech will you use, Rhym?"

His eyes widened. "Oh, crap, that's right! The Terrapin is out of commision. I have no mech!"

Sako looked exasperated. "I can see how that's an issue."

"How much are the mods paying for this?"

"2 million zen."

"Is it possible to be payed in advance? Or charge expenses to that payment?"

Sako blinked. "Should be."

"And we can use instant transmission freely?"

"Yea, the mods are paying for it."

"Awesome. Then I should have a mech in about two or three game days."

With that, Rhym teleported to Cragos, the industrial planet.

[ALIGN=Center]--------[/ALIGN]

Rhym and his new mech teleported back to Katenea after two game days' time.

[ALIGN=Center][SIZE=2][b][u]RHYM'S NEW MECH[/u][/b][/SIZE][/ALIGN]

Rhym's new mech is a [i]Reaper[/i]-Class mech, which resembles a praying mantis. Unlike a [i]Terrapin[/i]-Class mech, [i]Reaper[/i]-Class mechs are very fast and agile, with only moderate armor. They are favorites of melee-geared fighters, but are adaptable to ranged weapons.

[ALIGN=Center][SIZE=2][b][u]SPECS[/u][/b][/SIZE][/ALIGN]

Armor: Moderate
Speed: Moderate-High
Agility: High
Armaments: Twin energy sickles (EST-R, using Takuya's rating system, so that's Energy Sickle Twin - Reaper), in retractable slots in the arms, which are the defining weapons of the [i]Reaper[/i]-Class. Other than that, twin sub-machine guns (SGT-A, Submachine Gun Twin - All mechs), a shoulder-mounted rocket pack (RPD-A, Rocket Pack Dual - All mechs), and another Reaper-specific weapon, a back-mounted heavy blaster cannon covered by retractable armor plates (RCE-R, Retractable Cannon Energy - Reaper).
Extras: All Reapers are equipped with vertical thrusters to allow for short bursts of flight or very big jumps. Also, Rhym has upgraded the sensors, this time buying the dirt filter.
Level: Low AA, more than enough.

OOC: Is that mech okay? Oh, and you guys can explain what happened in those two days Rhym was gone if you want.[/FONT]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

It would be a couple game days before the mission was on, and it was getting late for real. David logged out and got some sleep, as he guessed the others would be doing. Fortunatly, the next day was Saturday, which meant that there were no responsibilities to take care of. So David logged back in right after breakfast. It would still be a few game-hours before the mission was on, which gave Sako time to inspect his new mech, have Tarlomno make any necessary modifications, and give it a test run. By the time everyone had logged back in, he was ready.



[center][b][u]Mech Profile: Custom Design regestered to Sako[/u][/b][/center]
[center][b][u]Mech Name: Jehuty[/u][/b][/center]
[left] [/left]
[left][u]Performance Levels:[/u][/left]
[left]Speed: Extreme[/left]
[left]Agility: Extreme[/left]
[left]Sheiding: Moderate[/left]
[left]Armor: Extremly Low[/left]
[left] [/left]
[left]Jehuty was designed based on the mech Jehuty from the game [i]Zone of the Enders[/i]. It utilizes the new counter-grav technology in place of the thruster system seen on almost all other mechs. This, along with the lack of armor, gives Jehuty unmatched speed and manuverability.[/left]
[left] [/left]
[left]Instead of armor, Jehuty relies solely on its sheild system to keep it intact, the result being that Jehuty will remain fully functional until it is destroyed, instead of losing functions like other mechs. The disadvantage is that sheilds don't offer as much protection as armor, but Jehuty more than makes up for this with its manuverability. In the hands of a competent pilot, Jehuty is extremly difficult to hit.[/left]
[left] [/left]
[left]Jehuty is not well-suited for long range combat. Its ranged weapons mainly serve as means to distract the enemy while moving into melee range. These weapons are:[/left]
[left] [/left]
[left]A: An ERB-D Dancer-optimized energy rifle capable of firing a three-shot burst or a more powerful but still very weak single shot.[/left]
[left] [/left]
[left]B: A set of TLC-A laser emmitters. Multiple emmitters are on either side of the mech, and are concealed. They fire weak lasers that follow the target untill they either hit or 'burn out' and dissipate. Each emmitter can be locked onto a seperate target.[/left]
[left] [/left]
[left]C: A BSC-A burst shot, capable of being charged for a couple seconds for a stronger attack.[/left]
[left] [/left]
[left]Jehuty's melee-range weapon is an ESC-A energy sword, capable of being quickly (fraction of a second) charged and released in a powerful spin attack. Jehuty is also equipped with an EWD-A electronic warfare system that creates a false image of the mech for an enemy's scanners.[/left]
[left] [/left]
[left]Mech Class: AAA[/left]
[left] [/left]
[left]--------------------------------------------[/left]
[left] [/left]
[left]OOC: For those of you who haven't played [i]Zone of the Enders[/i], a picture of Jehuty is attached (Jehuty is the one that's not blowing up).[/left]

[Albel the Wicked]

Drake decided to log off. Since the next day was a Saturday, he could be on for quite a while. The next morning, Drake slept until about 9:00 and logged on as Shaull. When Shaull logged on there was a new message on the boards. One was a request to have as many members in the hacker ring project as possible. The other was an announcment of something new. Turns out that there is a new skill system that lets every class have skills. From now on, when members won fights, they would win skill points along with experience, which made the experience from each monster be less then before. When enough points are stocked, members are allowed to buy certain skills, depending on the class type. As a gift, the mods were giving every member 50 free skill points. Shaull looked at his status, and saw that even HE had skill points. Well, he had more. He had 100 skill points. The mods were going to do this to every member on the missions, so Sako and Rhym and the others will have 100 skills points stocked. Shaull went to a terminal and saw that the 'skill shop' was a new option along with the others. He opened the skill shop to see what he could buy. It asked for his class. He put in 'custom class' since that was his only option. It then asked what his characters main trait was. Shaull entered in 'guns'. A list of skills and power ups came up. There was one that caught Shaull's eyes. It was called Shotgun Fury. Shaull didn't care to read the description first, he knew that just by the name that it was a good skill. But it cost 75 skill points. Shaull payed the skill points and got the Shotgun Fury move. Then, Shaull just bought the Dark Element Bullets for 25 points. Shaull went out to test the new move. He went and equipped the skill. When he activated it, it took down the MP and let out a fury of small firey blasts. Shaull was easily impressed by this. He was just wondering if he could power it up. He looked back at the terminal and enter to see that instead of the move wasn't highlighted, he saw that there was a shotgun storm instead. It was worth double the priced. So you can buy the powered up version of a move, but it will always cost double of the past power up. Shaull walked around and saw that Sako was here. (Oh great!) thought Shaull. He leaned against a wall as he saw Sako add the finishing touches to his mech. He'd have to wait for his other so called 'team' before he could set out. "Wonder what kind of vehicle those pathetic mods will give me for this.
"Hey!? Why you such a jerk?" asked Sako. Shaull glared at Sako and he could tell that a small bit of fear went down his spine.
".......this will be one of the few times that I'll agree with the mods. Sometimes the truth needs to be silenced. I know this isn't what you want to hear." replied Shaull.
"What are you talking about?"
"Everyone thinks I'm just trying to ruin everyone else's game, but I'm just trying to make the mods uproot the truth" when Shaull said that, he started to walk off. He knew that Sako wouldn't believe the truth. People always think that he is just imperinating the famous mod that was known as Shaull Demandgon, giving him a bad name, but, he is something different.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

[i]What the hell is he talking about?[/i] Sako wondered. [i]He sounds like one of those conspiracy theroy nuts, always seeing some sort of plot somewhere. Seriously, what 'hidden truth' does he think there is? it's just a game. Sure, it's a game on a whole different scale, but it's still a game. Yes, there are numerous hackers, but still, what the hell kind of conspiracy would involve a game?[/i]

Shaull used a terminal to check his messages. He found the message about the new skill points,and saw that he had an extra fifty for his participation in the upcoming attack on the hacker ring. So he accessed the skill shop, inputing 'Melder' as his class.

A list of skils for the Melder specialty areas of fighters and single-person mechs appeared. Sako browsed through the list. One skill in particular caught his eye. It was a weapon modification skill compatable with any kind of energy pistol. It added a punch to a single shot (not to three-shot bursts), which had the effect of knocking the target back a good distance. Sako was interested because that effect was the same as the Gauntlet weapon in [i]Zone of the Enders[/i]. It didn't do much damage, but it was very easy to use to send opponents flying into walls or other mechs. It cost 50 skill points, so Sako bought it. then he sat and waited for everyone to arrive.

[Albel the Wicked]

Drake was tired of being like Shaull, so Shaull saved at where he was and logged off. But before he did, he said to Sako," I need to log off and do my chores and stuff like that. So you're going to have to wait a little bit for my superior skill to be yours" he said as his character disappeared. Drake then logged on as his character Drake. Drake started in his great vassal of Athirion. "Ahhhhh. It's good to be back in my ship" Drake said to himself. He walked to the captain's seat to see that he had a new message and it was from his friend Albel. He opened it and it said,"[I]No, I didn't get deleated. Not much is going on, but if you already didn't know, those players have been wiped from the bounty list. If you still want to meet, how about in the capital of the planet Shoonisin. C ya there
PS: Is that eyeshield the best thing you could invent?[/I]
Drake just laughed and shook his head. He started to head for the planet of Shoonisin. It was a healthy and thriving planet. He went to the capital called of the whole planet. When he was near the planet he went to the Athirion hangar and took a standard battle ship. The X-R1 was a fairly good ship, with standard engines, guns, and armor. Drake took off and landed in the capital. He looked around. (Albel should've given more specific directions. This city is too big. How should I know where the hell he is) Drake thought. He walked around, only to be pulled into an alleyway. When he looked, it was indeed his old friend Albel.
"Hey!" said Drake.
"What up?"
"Not much. U?"
"I'm good. So what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Well, I was going to see if you would help me track those players, but, since they aren't on the bounty list, I guess I'll just ask you to help me make something I've been working on for quite a while."
"What is it?"
"Come to the Athirion and I'll show you." Albel got in the passenger seat of tje X-R1 and Drake flew back up to the Athirion. Drake lead Albel to the workshop, where Drake made all of his inventions.
"I've been trying to get this to work for a while, but I've never succeeded" said Drake to Albel.
"What is it?"
"I'm trying to make and energy sword on foot instead of mechs."
"It's a good idea, but-"
"I know, I know. Since the energy sword lets out and EMP wave that is small, technology around malfunctions, but since the mechs have enough resistence, that isn't a problem, as for making an energy sword on foot, the technology it is harnessed in will malfunction, causing the sword to withdraw. I knew that. I tried to reduce the power, but then it doesn't materilize at all. I've mastered everything, I just need to find out how to up the resistence."
"Well, I'll try to help you the best I can." They sat and thought on how to make the energy sword work. They gave suggestions for a couple of hours, until Albel got a good idea. "I have an idea! I HAVE AN IDEA!"
"I heard you the first time, I was just ignoring you"
"Shut up. Well, here it is. Why don't we fuse titanium, aluminum, and copper together to make a super conduction alloy that will keep the power of the energy sword in the wires until the technology comes back online."
"I know that I have some titanium and aluminum, but no copper"
Albel pulled out some copper from his inventory.
"Do you always keep copper in you inventory?" Drake asked.
"A good inventor keeps the most used materials with him at ALL times" They melded the metals together to form some fairly thick wires. They put it in the attachment for the sword. Drake placed the sword attachment on his bracer and drew the sword. The bracer immedietly malfunctioned, but the energy of the sword was still seen. "Come on. Come on!" Drake said, hoping it would work. The energy started to disappear. Little by little it went. But, the technology came back online and the sword came out, without making the technology malfunction.
"YES! YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!! WE DID IT!" Drake screamed.
"Well, we don't know how powerful it is. Let's test it on the course." They went to the gun course and started a session. When fairly good level droids came out, Drake used the sword and it cut all the droids in half.
"YEAH! I THINK IT'S GOOD!" Drake yelled.
"Since I helped you, I think I deserve a free sword." Albel said.
"I'm going to file a patent first" Drake drew up the patent and started mass producing the sword attachments like crazy.
"I'll make you a deal. I'll give you a free bracer with sword, IF you promise me a free set of your new armor."
"Sounds like a fair trade. Although that thing is going to be worth like 5,000,000 zen."
"Hey, that way I payed you back for all the favors."
"Alright"
Albel and Drake swapped goods and bid farewell to each other. Drake thought his character looked snazy in his new armor. He was ready to set up Drake's payback on Shaull.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Garnok gathered the players for a briefing before the mission began. "I'm only going to say this once," he began, "so listen up. The enemy is located on a large astroid in the Tanagaon system. They've taken over an abandoned mining station. They've been constructing fixed defenses, but none seem to be operational yet. We have warships in the area in case the enemy has anything big of their own, but an orbital bombardment is not an option. The facility is underground, and the enemy will simply wait out any bombardment. Which means that we're going to have to take them in mech combat.

"Now, we don't have much data on their forces, but we have some. Mech types are a very good mix of the heavier Tanks and the like with faster units like Dancers and Eagles. We've identified a few multi-person mechs, including a pair of Griffins, but not enough to pose a serious problem, especially since we have our own multi-person mechs. The numbers favor them, but we've picked the most skilled mech pilots we could find. We should have a major skill advantage.

"The enemy also has the home field advantage. They know the terrain, and they know the layout of the facility. Of course, they'll undoubtably mount their defense on the astroid's surface, before we enter the facility, so that they can more easily take advantage of their superior numbers. Of course, we'll have room to manuver, and we've got some mechs that'll be very tough to hit, including the new Orbits. This won't be easy, but we should be able to pull it off, and the longer we wait, the greater the chance that the enemy will figure out that we're coming and relocate. So we're not taking the time to gather more people. We're going now.

"We'll be using instant transit, but the distance is far enough that we'll have to go one-by-one to avoid risk of a glitch in the process. The drop point is far enough away from the facility that we should be able to get everyone across before the enemy can do anything. Now, it's time to do this. Everyone, board your mechs and await your transit. Let's do this."

As the players and mods boarded their mechs, Sako walked over to Garnok. "Think you picked any of the wrong people?"

"You can never be sure," Garnok responded, "which is why I didn't mention any of the surprises we have in store for the enemy."

"Good move. Always assume that your enemy has agents among your people."

Garnok nodded. "Very true." He looked around. "I don't see Shaull. Why isn't he here?"

"Who gives a shit?," Sako replied. "If he gets here before we're all gone, then he can come. If he doesn't make it in time, then forget him. We're probably better off without him anyways. Now, I believe you expressed a desire to get on with this. Why don't we do that?"

"Agreed. Let's get moving."

[Albel the Wicked]

Drake did what he wanted as this character, so he switched back over to Shaull and started where he saved. He saw that everyone was ready to depart. He went to Garnok. "Garnok, I didn't really get details on this mission. Can you tell me?" Garnok filled him in on everything. When he was done Shaull thought," WAIT A SECOND! Thats the same mission you sent me on when I was a mod!" Shaull slammed Garnok to the wall and put a gun to his head. "Don't tell me you're setting me up again. I wouldn't think you'd go so low to sacrifice all these players just to take me down."
"First off, I'm going to tell you again, I didn't set you up. We didn't have good info. Secondly, the hacker ring was done that way to HONOR you."
"What?"
"Yes, they think that we set you up, so they are staging their ring at the same place of the previous virus."
"So, that's why you want us to get rid of them. Just like me, they want you to admit what you did."
"Well, you see, they think that your character was deleated. They thought you were a great mod, so, that's one of the reasons we tried to contact you. Maybe you could talk to them to make them stop. Plus, you can hack just like them, so it will help a lot." Shaull just snorted. "You've already been payed, so you are indebted to this mission."
"Yeah yeah"
"Well, they seem to be leaving, so I suggest that you get going"
"Did you get a ship for me?"
"Ah yes, we most certainly did. We got you something that might stand a chance against the mechs they have" Garnok took Shaull to the garage, to reveal a black stealth fighter ship.
"A FLR-15!"
"Surprised?"
"I didn't think a cheap ass like you would get this good of a ship."
"Whatever. Get in. Instant transit is what we're using for travel. We're going one at a time, so this will give you time to see it's capabilites while you wait."
Shaull got in, powered up the engine and looked around. He could tell were everything was. He was ready to this, although, he was starting to have different thoughts about this.